New Holland 451 Check out

[JimHam]

Our local spring equipment auction has a NH 451 that is in "fair" ?? shape but I am not very familiar with these cutters other than my grandfather used to use them for cutting his hay. I need a sickle mower for the usual pond banks, dams type of cutting. This one has the 9ft bar which I like but is sitting on the ground at the sale lot so how do I check it out. I planned to grab the pto shaft and see if it rotates but wasn't even sure if it should rotate when the bar is in the travel position. The teeth or guards seem to be pretty worn to me. I did not see any serrated edges and the opening that the blade travels in was rounded on the edges and seemed to me there was a lot of clearance around the blades. Blades themselves were serrated and very sharp. How should a newbie check this thing out to see if it is useable when it is just sitting on the ground and I can't test it out to see if it works. A quick look-over today did not reveal any obvious welds or broken pieces. I've read a lot of the posts on these units and Mr. Sweet has made some good suggestions so I will be checking the break-away mechanism carefully. I am going over there again Friday PM and see if I can take off the belt guard to check it out too. What should I be looking for folks? What would make you walk away from this unit, i.e. what are the deal-breakers I should watch out for that tells me it is junk?

 

[sweettractors]

You should be able to grab the drivebelt with your hands to check the head play. Any old weld repairs on the machine would indicate possible abuse of the machine. It could have heat treated double guards with no serrations or single guards with serrated ledger plates, as it was sold in both configurations. Ken Sweet

 

[JimHam]

Ken, This one has a full belt shroud so I can't get to the belt without removing it. Looking at these for sale on-line I have noticed that some have no belt shroud at all, some have a partial cover and some have the full cover. Is that any indication of how old it might be. Did the full belt shroud come along on later models?

I'm going to try and get permission to remove the shroud tomorrow afternoon to look at the belt and check the bearings on the head.

I actually went to the sale grounds to look at a CAT D-6 when I found this. The D-6 needs a whole new undercarriage and looks like it has worked hard. Maybe I can get something else I can use. We'll see.

 

[sweettractors]

Ken, This one has a full belt shroud so I can't get to the belt without removing it. Looking at these for sale on-line I have noticed that some have no belt shroud at all, some have a partial cover and some have the full cover. Is that any indication of how old it might be. Did the full belt shroud come along on later models?

I'm going to try and get permission to remove the shroud tomorrow afternoon to look at the belt and check the bearings on the head.

I actually went to the sale grounds to look at a CAT D-6 when I found this. The D-6 needs a whole new undercarriage and looks like it has worked hard. Maybe I can get something else I can use. We'll see.

Yes, The full belt cover indicates a later model. If it has no breaks or welds, that would be a pretty good indication on how it has been cared for. Ken Sweet

 

[JimHam]

Well, apparently there were other folks who wanted that 451 mower pretty bad. It went for $1,600! Guards looked like they were all pretty worn out rounded off and the openings were pretty wide. There was a Frontier SB3071 mower that was in like new condition and it went for $1,500. Go figure. Went home empty handed but with a full wallet so it wasn't all bad

 

[sweettractors]

Well, apparently there were other folks who wanted that 451 mower pretty bad. It went for $1,600! Guards looked like they were all pretty worn out rounded off and the openings were pretty wide. There was a Frontier SB3071 mower that was in like new condition and it went for $1,500. Go figure. Went home empty handed but with a full wallet so it wasn't all bad

Here is a link to our refurbed sickle mowers with pricing. Ken Sweet
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